The Way Our Hearts Beat

SEVEN

21st February

"You're picking the wrong strawberries again, Tae Tae!"

A young, seven year old Taehyung looked up to the old woman with worry in his eyes.

"Nooo!" he stared at the unripe strawberries in his tray. "Not again!"

"It's okay, Tae Tae." she put her hand on his shoulder. "Look here-" the lady guided Taehyung to a plant with the perfect bright red strawberries dangling down. "You see how even the colour is?"

Taehyung attentively nodded his head.

"It travels from tip to tip, right?" the woman's finger trailed the berry top to bottom. "When you find such a berry, that means it's perfect to pick." she clipped the stem of the fruit and put it in her grandson's tray. "And always remember, pick part of their stems with the fruit, alright?" she smiled.

Taehyung's eyes sparkled at the fruit, and he made a determined face. "Alright!!" he nodded enthusiastically and went ahead to look for ripe berries.

"Like this one, grandma?" he picked a big, juicy strawberry and held it up for her to see.

The lady in the straw hat smiled. "Exactly! This one is perfect! Now, your mission is to find five more of these and then we'll head on to your violin lesson, okay?"

"Okay!" Taehyung then ran off into the aisles in search for the perfect five.

Taehyung and his grandmother had a very close bond with each other. She'd raised her grandson for most of his life, as his parents were overseas for an average ten months of the year. From taking him to school, or to his violin lessons, to teaching him the basics of life, Taehyung's grandmother was his everything.

Side by side, they'd walk everyday to Taehyung's violin lessons. As they walked, they'd talk about everything Taehyung did at school that day. When Taehyung was in a class high enough to join after-school activities, the drama club used to be the one topic that Taehyung never stopped talking about.

As a young boy, Taehyung had always been eager to learn many different things. It started with harvesting strawberries, then to playing the violin and then expressing his talent in acting.

As years passed by, Taehyung grew older and more mature, his various skills became as smooth as a clear stream of water. But his grandmother had aged as well, which brought along several downsides to her health. The most painful being, her ability to think or remember anything. She was slowly forgetting everything.

Soon it came to the point when they stopped walking together, as she needed to be in a safe environment most of the time. Which in turn stopped their conversations about Taehyung's school and the drama club.

They stopped picking strawberries together, because her hands were weary. They had lost their gentle, delicate touch. All her hands did, were tremble, due to her age.

His grandmother couldn't even recognise Taehyung anymore. In the rare occasion that she did, it would only last for a small fraction of time and then she'd go back to questioning who he was.

But, the only thing she did respond to, was Taehyung's violin. It was the only thing that got the occasional happiness and joy on her face.

"I have a competition tomorrow, grandma." a twenty year old Taehyung said, kneeling down on the ground beside his grandmother's armchair.

"I know you can't come-" he smiled weakly. "-but, could you wish me luck?"

The elder look down at him. "Wish you luck?" her voice was croaky.

"Yes." his eyes glistened with hope.