afterglow

chapter one

On the 31st of December, at exactly 10:24 pm, Taehyung realized he has fallen in love. He thought to himself, this is the first time his heart has beaten this fast just by looking at someone. He turned his eyes away and focused on the flying embers of the bonfire. He unconsciously reached out to his chest, somehow wanting to contain his heart. He continued to watch the fire dance before him even though all he wanted to do was stare at her again. He thought he could fight it, but the need to watch her smile and throw her head back in laughter was winning.

So he stopped fighting it.

He looked up again and gazed at her exceptional beauty. She really was a work of wonder, he thought. She brushed back the long black hair that the chill wind of the winter night blew at her porcelain skin. Her skin, he thought, had this natural glow, like it's shining to give light to everyone around her. He then watched as she continued to listen and laugh to every story being told and passed around the small circle like it was the most interesting she has ever heard. That laughter, it was harmonizing well with the sound of the wave of the sea. It was music to his ears.

"She's going to melt," someone whispered to his ears.

He turned and saw his closest friend Yoongi sit beside him on the mat, sand slightly scattering all over the place.

Taehyung was embarrassed at how obvious he had been. He picked up the can of beer beside him and quickly drank from it. He gulped the bitter taste down his throat in one go and wiped the dribble of alcohol from the side of his mouth. He was taken aback by his friend and the sudden realization that he has never been this way, especially to someone he just met.

Wheein, he thought, even her name was pretty, new and unique. She was a new classmate, transferred from another college in another town, and was now part of their group even though it's only been a month. She's friendly and got along well with the other girls of the circle, so it's only right to invite her in their winter getaway, celebrating new year and the new decade in his parents' beach house in an island in the south.

She's sitting across from him, hugging her knees and seeking warmth with her huge jacket. He thought, maybe he could offer his, but smacked himself at the thought. He has barely spoken to her. They only exchanged an awkward greeting a couple weeks ago when they bumped into each other in the library. He helped pick up the books she dropped from her arms. He noticed that the books were either about crime or poetry and thought it was weird for a busy fourth year accounting student to read, but it also made sense to him. She's a walking sunshine emitting elegance and class but would be someone who likes to read grime and gore for fun. She has a personality, unique, he thought. She smiled and thanked him once he handed her the books. He wanted to talk to her, but there's something about her that made his tongue curl up in panic.

Now, as he thought about it, it might be because he's starting to like her.

She's beautiful, smart, adorable, and everything else he still needed to know. He needed to know more than her name. He needed to have to call her pretty name with confidence and delight. He wanted to know her.

"You're staring again. She's really going to melt," his friend whispered again.

Taehyung looked at Yoongi and opened his mouth to talk, but the latter taunted him with a knowing smirk. He zipped his lips and drank from his can again.

"Make a move. I don't think she's with anyone."

He looked pointedly at him and muttered, "you're impossible."

Yoongi dropped it at the moment, but Taehyung sensed that this would not be the last time he's going to goad him.

When the clock has struck an hour before 12, Taehyung got up and signaled for the other boys to help him set up the fireworks. They gathered the firecrackers from the house and walked five meters away from the group toward the sea. Seokjin, the oldest and tallest of them, Yoongi, and Jungkook, the youngest, helped him set up the wooden fireworks base board on the loose ground of sand. And even though Taehyung was instructing the three of them in what to do, his mind was elsewhere. It's making him crazy how he could think of something else when his focus should be on the matter at hand and their safety.

However, when he heard Wheein's loud laughter, he turned his head like a reflex and watched how her small frame made big movements in reaction to whatever story Byul and Hyejin might have been telling her. He shook his head in disbelief. She's just a girl he barely knew, yet she could make him act not like himself. He needed to focus and not want to look at her again.

A few minutes have passed and the four of them returned to the group. He has succeeded in not letting the new girl invade his thoughts, or so he thought.

Music was now filling the cold air, and Wheein was captivating everyone with her wonderful voice.

Taehyung almost gasped so loud that he cleared his throat to hide his surprise. He couldn't believe he's hearing this right. Wheein has the most beautiful voice his ears have ever caught. Even with the struggle of the freezing night, her voice was smooth and stable, serenading the night with fervor and embracing each one of them with warmth.

She's perfect, he thought. She's that person who's already eye-catching at one glance but still turns heads with her rich personality and charms. She's a treasure chest, a gold mine. It's such a shame to not know more of the things she's hiding, so Taehyung decided he wanted to know more things about her. He wanted to be hypnotized again and again. He decided he would talk to her and befriend her, and maybe eventually ask her out. He didn't know how to do it, but at this moment, all he wanted was walk up right to her and get to know her and call her pretty name with his own lips.

The group has continued to jam and sing along together while waiting for the clock to strike 12 and welcome the new year. Jimin also continued playing his guitar for everyone. He was his most charismatic friend, whom everyone in their school was crushing over.

Taehyung thought, unlike himself, it was so easy for Jimin to make everyone fall in love with his charms. His smile was always bright, and so was his personality and whole being. And this thought suddenly made him uncomfortable, especially seeing with his two eyes how the girl he's been adoring for the night communicated with his good friend while singing: him playing the guitar and her singing while looking at him. Never has a simple thing made him feel this troubled. It's like fighting with the wind.

Taehyung remained quiet in the few minutes before the new year and kept himself preoccupied with alcohol. To his relief, everyone was busy to notice.

In a while, all nine of them stood up and circled around and started the countdown. Taehyung dragged Yoongi to help him lit up the fireworks.

"Hey, you're quiet the whole night. You okay?" Yoongi asked once they were far from everyone's ears.

Taehyung smiled and picked up the torch lighter among the tools. "Yup. Just thinking."

"You're thinking about the new girl, right? If you like her, go for it."

Taehyung just smiled and made lighting of the fireworks an excuse to not talk about it.

He looked up at the sky and saw how wonderful the night was. He said to himself, he would start the year getting to know that girl named Wheein, and he's not going to stop just at that.

All of them made a toast, sharing greetings and hugs as they celebrated the new year together, away from the confines of college and the world. Taehyung went around hugging his friends with a big smile on his face. He always liked being with them. They're a family that was not as strict as his own. He's free with them. It's like a different world.

Now, it's only Wheein he hasn't grown confidence to greet and hug. He was starting to feel nervous but stood upright and walked up to her. However, something in him panicked when he saw Wheein initiating a tight hug with Jimin. He's not ready for this complicated feelings, he thought. So instead of going to her, he called out to everyone to gather up all their things and put out the fire as it's starting to really freeze outside. He's the first one to leave and head inside the house.

Such a coward, he thought to himself. It was just a hug. A hug that all of them shared.

The night was still young after all. He could still make up for what he did not do. A lot of things could still happen.

And he's right, a lot of things did happen.